


Nightmare

by SelenitaLunar



Series: Loving You [5]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Pepper dies but not for real, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 10:00:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11529900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelenitaLunar/pseuds/SelenitaLunar
Summary: Tony just had an awful nightmare, luckily Pepper was there to comfort him.





	Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Special Thanks to my awesome beta: a-citizen-of-asgard because she's the reason my inner writer voice sounds right in English. Thank You Shannon for helping me when I needed you. You are THE BEST.

**2012**

Tony is stirring uneasily over the huge bed he shares with his girlfriend, talking and screaming in his sleep as he sweats profusely.

_I am late. She's resting over a pool of her own blood. Why God? She is still alive but my rational brain tells me that she isn't going to be for much longer._

_I try to push these gloomy thoughts away from my mind without succeeding._

_"Pep, I'm here," I say, trying to comfort her. "I'm already here."_

_"Tony..."_

_Her voice sounds so muffled and weak. She must have lost too much blood. I curse in silence. I can't do anything. It's too late to save her. The aching pain courses through my veins and keeps my throat dry. I can't breathe anymore. I'm certain of losing the person I care the most in the world and it is unbearable, I just can't lose her._

_"Pepper… No!" I hopelessly sob as tears fall from my eyes. I can't stop them. "Come on, you have to fight a little more, sweetheart. I'll take you to a hospital. You will get out of this, I promise."_

_"Tony…" She whispers in a barely audible voice as she laboriously inhales her final breaths. "I…"_

_"No, Pep, no come on! You can't do this! I should have come sooner… Please, baby, please… Just stay with me… I beg you…"_

_"Tony… I… Love… You…" The three words leave her lips in a faint inaudible whisper. And suddenly her eyes close and her chest stops moving._

_She's dead._

_I feel the better part of myself dying with her and I hug her dead body against the metallic chest of my Iron Man suit feeling utterly miserable as my heart breaks into a thousand tiny pieces, once and for all._

_"Don't leave me! Nooooooooo Pepper Nooooo! Come back to me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" I cry as I rock her body back and forth against my chest plate "Nooooooooooooooooo, babeeeee!"_

Pepper suddenly woke up, a little startled, until she discovered what had troubled her. It had been a scream, Tony screaming out of his lungs. Frightened, she turned to his side of the bed in time to see her boyfriend struggling with the sheets, totally drenched in sweat and with a grimace of horror plastered on his face.

Another nightmare, she thought. Surely about the time he was abducted, or about the space hole that opened over the Stark Tower during the New York incident. It happened most of the nights. She grabbed his left shoulder and shook it lightly. From experience she knew it was best to get him out of his subconscious mind as soon as possible, to spare him more suffering.

"Hey, Tony… Tony, wake up!" She tried to rouse him without success.

Determined to get him out of that horror, Pepper shook him harder. And then it worked. He woke up at last. Tony looked around still frightened. Suddenly he fixed his eyes on her, reached out and stroked her cheek gently, looking intently at her as if he couldn't believe that she was there with him, safe and sound. He tried long deep breaths in order to regain his composure.

Pepper was alright, she was alive. It was all a fucking vivid nightmare. Tony tried to calm himself.

"Oh, Pep... Oh God... Did I wake you up?" He babbled as soon as he regained control of himself.

Looking around, he realized that he was in his bedroom.

"Are you all right?" She asked, looking him in the eyes, worried.

"Yeah, it was just another nightmare... Again, but... It's nothing you need to worry about… Trust me… You're safe, that's all that matters."

Pepper looked puzzled.

"Did you dream about me this time?" She asked in disbelief. She was used to the other nightmares, they were always the same: torture, drowning in the water, choking in the immensity of space… But this seemed different.

Tony shifted his body slightly and hugged her tightly, barely letting her catch her breath.

"Pepper..." He whispered in her ear. "I dreamed that I was losing you and it was horrible."

The redhead drew him to her, comforting him, caressing his back in circles and placing a hand on the back of his neck, entangling her fingers in the sweaty curly hair there.

"Tony, it's already over. It was just a nightmare. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. Calm down, breathe..."

"Pep..." He whispered in a moan. "It was so real... I can't lose you… Without you no..."

"Shhh" She cradled him, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. "Tony, I promise I'll always be with you."

"I would never forgive myself if something happened to you because of me. You are all I have."

"You are all I have too, Tony" She said right back.

The engineer pulled away from her embrace so he could look into her eyes.

"Pepper, I love you" He said solemnly. "That's what I wanted to tell you on the phone the day the sky opened and the damned aliens..." He stammered. "I love you, more than anything"

Pepper Potts smiled broadly. It had only taken him two years to verbalize his feelings for her. It wasn't like she didn't already know. But it was the first time he said it out loud to her.

"I love you too" She said bending over him to steal a small kiss from his expectant, parted lips.

When they parted, Tony smiled slightly. It had only cost him a near-death experience and a horrible nightmare to gather the courage to express his feelings out loud. He shrugged and smiled sincerely at the woman he loved more than his own life.

"You are my home, Pep."

"I know, and you are mine, Tony. You already know that…" She fondled his belly tenderly in order to calm him down.

He sighed happily, relaxing into her touch.

"Have you considered coming to live here permanently?" He suddenly asked.

"Like… Moving in with you?" She was surprised but pleased nonetheless.

"Yeah. I think it would be a good idea. I miss you too much when you leave…" He said sincerely. Eyes bright with emotion. "I feel sad and alone… The mansion's too big without you"

"I need to think about it. But it's not a no. I've been wondering about it myself for some time now…"

He bowed his head in a yes and stared at her.

"I'm just so glad you were here tonight"

"I'm glad I stayed." She caressed his chin sweetly.

Then, Pepper got up.

"I'm going to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate. It will help us to get back to sleep. Do you want to come with me?" Pepper knew that giving him a distraction would help him.

Tony tilted his head and looked at her in fascination. A moment later he followed her into the kitchen. He was already much more relieved and calmed.

Later, as he lifted the cup of steaming chocolate to his lips, in his restless brain he toyed with the idea that heroes never die and he would always be there to save his Pepper. Always.


End file.
